Communities closed vs. open

    In terms of its closedness (or openness) on the Internet, it seems to me, there are 4 types of communities:

    1. Completely closed: reading and registering by invitation (for example, Leprozory on Deti.ru)
    2. Partially closed: registering by invitation (as before) was in LiveJournal)
    3. Open with registration: everyone is registered (like most forums, social networks, etc.)
    4. Completely open: you can write without registration (like on the Web)

    Disadvantages || the advantages of such communities are quite obvious:

    1. A very limited circle of users || but a cozy atmosphere "for their"
    2. Also few users and readers || the atmosphere is still "home"
    3. Not everyone has the patience to register, even if there is something to say || there is at least some protection against lovers just blurt out anything.
    4. Anyone can write, even if there is nothing to say = more load on the moderators and the degree of litter || less likely to lose valuable members.

    Many communities began their activities with complete or partial closure, gradually opening up. LJ is a good example of this. Although many people recall with nostalgia the years when it was necessary to receive an invitation for registration, no one will argue that LJ would not become such a mass phenomenon if it were not for open registration. By the way, LJ users can allow comments from unregistered readers (as far as I know).

    So what am I talking about? And that sooner or later admins and communities are faced with the temptation to make them completely open (so that you can write even without registration). At least, this question has worried me lately. After all, I often do not write anything on other forums and blogs simply because I am too lazy to register. Thus, these forums and blogs lose such an interesting interlocutor like me :) On the other hand, I don’t want to lose the “home” atmosphere created over the years and arrange a passage yard from the “house”. Here is such a dilemma. What do you think about this?

    Sincerely, Moony,
    admin of the community of lovers of India and South Asia (6800 registered users).

    PS.User activity on the Habré (where registration is needed) is much higher than on the Web planet (where you do not even need to register to write). This also gives cause for thought.

    Also popular now: